You are a dead detective in the Mexican afterworld trying to find your killer. Undercover you prepare unique tacos to make suspects confess. Find clues and solve puzzles. Step into the shoes of your dog, Xolo, and do magical things. Save the Día de los Muertos.

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Coming Soon To Early Access

The developers of this game intend to release as a work in progress, developing with the feedback of players.

Note: Games in Early Access are not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development. Learn more

What the developers have to say:

Why Early Access?

“We want to promote the game and get feedback on and improve it and add content that the community wants. ”

Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?

“We assume ca. 5 months.”

How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?

“We plan to have more cases, more content, more characters, more minigames and a bigger world, and even more fun.”

What is the current state of the Early Access version?

“You can play the game in the world in the quarter of the Nearly Forgotten, cook different tacos and solve three levels, talk to several suspects, witnesses and passer-bys. ”

Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?

“Yes, the full game will have a higher price. So better buy it now :)”

How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?

“We are listening to the community for features, comments, feedback to make the game even better. Also the game includes that community can contribute to the game, so we look forward to that. If you find bugs, want to suggest features or elements or even just give us general feedback, please tell us on our discord server. Thanks a lot.”
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This game is not yet available on Steam

Planned Release Date: 2026

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About This Game

Detective of the Dead is an adventure game with cozy cooking, set in the colorful Mexican afterworld Mictlan. As the recently killed detective Alejandro you want to find your killer to save your loved ones.

Your grandma runs a taqueria and helps you. Undercover you prepare great tacos to make suspects talk. With these clues you investigate further and need to solve puzzles and mini-games to progress in your case.

Find out many mysteries of Mictlan! Ultimately your fate is to save the Día de los Muertos. But your decisions lead to several endings in a gripping story about life and death.

Time is running out. You only have time until the Day of the Dead to save the afterworld and your loved ones.

Let’s Taco About It!

Find out which special taco recipes make your customers spill the beans. Then get or buy the new ingredients. Your grandma Lupita knows many things about Mexican food and tacos as well as the afterworld Mictlan.  

Whip up traditional, delicious recipes for your clients… some might be suspects! Besides clues you get paid for a good taco. Use those Calavera coins for buying ingredients, tools and more.

Investigate the Clues

Pursue the gathered clues to uncover the mysteries of the case and get answers to your questions: What does the barkeeper know? Does Frida more than paint? What hides the Royal? Why is this Lucha Libre so friendly? There are many riddles to solve, some involve VIPs you might know

Luckily you are not alone on your journey, because always on your side and ready to help is: your companion dog Xolo with many magical abilities. Explore Mictlan also through the eyes of Xolo and use him cleverly to track suspects, get to remote places or find special items.

A new take on being a detective: Things in Mictlan are a bit different than in the world of the living. It's not just these ancient god's powers, that are part of the game, but it all seems a bit surreal and fun. As you might know from Coco, the Disney film, on the Day of the Dead every dead can travel to the world of the living. But what if someone wants to end this, so no one will travel to the living anymore? That would be a disaster for both worlds. The Dead clearly have a problem. And you are their best chance to solve it.

  • Single Player (a local Co-op mode is planned)

  • Semi-open 3D world handcrafted full of life (well, dead NPCs)

  • 15 hand-drawn key NPCs for the key case and more for the side quests - all with their unique story.

  • Top-Down perspective

  • 2 core game-loops: cozy cooking + detective investigation with dialogues and puzzles

  • ca. 7-10 hours of gameplay with a main quest and lots of side quests.

  • In-game hint system

  • Official Currency: Calavera coins

  • Different endings based on your decisions in the game

  • Unique soundtrack for each of the levels and scene specific

  • Authentic Mexican mini-games incl. Piñatas shooting, Lotería (a bit of bingo), Papel picado & more.

  • Become part of the game with UGC skins and music and your own memories

  • Release for PC / Steam / Steamdeck (planned also is Nintendo Switch, Playstation and Xbox)

  • Voice Over in English (German, Spanish & others planned)

  • Translation into English, German, Spanish, Chinese (more planned)

We support remembering your loved ones: Alejandro is deeply missed in the world of the living. We understand this feeling, and through the game, we provide a space for all players to honor their loved ones. Please get in touch with us, for example, on Discord, to find out more.

For latest updates and exclusives follow us on Kickstarter.

Mature Content Description

The developers describe the content like this:

Its an exciting and comic fun adventure in the land of the dead people in top down view, nothing to be scared about.

System Requirements

    Minimum:
    • OS: Windows10
    • Processor: i3
    • Memory: 16 MB RAM
    • Graphics: onboard
    Recommended:
    • OS: Windows11
    • Processor: i5
    • Memory: 16 MB RAM
    • Graphics: onboard
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